


A Spring in Your Step

by thepottermalfoyproblem



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: First Kiss, Ignis is a limber man, M/M, Sparring, poorly written gymnastics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 05:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepottermalfoyproblem/pseuds/thepottermalfoyproblem
Summary: King Regis has ordered that Ignis be trained in some form of combat by the end of the summer, but nothing has really worked out for Noct's adviser. Cue Gladio attempting to train him and things clicking in a spectacular fashion.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've forgotten more than I ever knew about gymnastics, so please ignore the kind of handwavy way I wrote Ignis's stellar moves.
> 
> Happy Birthday Gladio, you get a lap-full of Ignis. XD

“Come on, Iggy! Hit me!” Gladio stood at the far end of the training field, greatsword slung effortlessly over his shoulder. He hadn’t even broken a sweat, yet Ignis stood panting at the opposite end, hands gripping his daggers so tightly his knuckles gleamed white.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past half-hour,” growled Ignis, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. It came away streaked with dirt, probably from when he’d gone sprawling across the ground courtesy of Gladio’s powerful back-swing.

“Well, try harder. King Regis is expecting you to be trained by the end of summer.” Gladio shifted his grip slightly on his sword and shrugged. “Dunno why he picked me to do the training, but orders are orders.”

Gladio was right, orders were orders, but that didn’t necessarily mean Ignis had to enjoy them. The hour of training, combined with the half-hour of showering and dressing that followed, took valuable time out of his day. Time that could be better used finishing up the last of his classes or reviewing for meetings with the council or doing literally anything that wasn’t running around in the hot sunlight, squinting his eyes against the flash of metal hurtling towards his face…

His reverie broken by Gladio charging him, Ignis brought up his twin daggers in a hurried block, wincing as the force of the blow drove him backwards across the training grounds. Ducking quickly underneath Gladio’s arms, Ignis swiped at the shield’s back, but Gladio rolled away.

Ignis growled in irritation. “How can someone so Astralsdamned huge move so fucking quickly?”

“Training!” shot back Gladio with a smirk and Ignis ground his teeth. Seriously, the man was infuriating. They had been at this for weeks and Ignis felt like he had made no progress, besides adding bruise after bruise to an impressive collection of aches and pains. And Gladio, normally hotheaded Gladio, was cool and collected and made Ignis want to strangle him.

Noctis had tried to give Ignis pointers early on, but since the boy could warp entirely across the battlefield, his advice for his non-warping adviser was less than sound. Dodging yet another blow from Gladio’s greatsword, Ignis wracked his brain for anything that he could use on the battlefield. Standard block and striking techniques clearly weren’t working, leaving him exhausted and furious at the end of every sparring session. He certainly couldn’t use standard glaive moves, as they also incorporated warping.

Taking a moment to circle around Gladio and catch his breath, Ignis tilted his head in thought. There was one method he hadn’t tried yet, the idea of resurrecting old floor routines from childhood gymnastics. Sure, he’d kept up with some of the more simple flips, practicing whenever he had enough room and a spare moment, but the simple truth was he missed the momentary thrill of being airborne. He was hesitant to attempt it with daggers in his hands, but honestly, he really had nothing to lose. If nothing else came of it, he could at least regain some of his training time with an activity more enjoyable than collecting bruises. Loosening his death grip on his daggers, he flexed his feet against the ground and envisioned his next moves carefully. One wrong step and he could end up with the dull, but still quite painful, edge of Gladio’s practice blade landing in his gut.

He chewed his lip, a nervous habit he really should try to break, and let out a long steadying breath before sprinting towards Gladio. The shield, clearly not expecting the normally defensive adviser to charge him, brought his sword up in a blocking stance a second too late and was therefore unprepared when Ignis threw his whole weight into a flip. He went sailing over Gladio’s head, twisting so he landed behind him, one dagger poised to strike his exposed throat and the other ready to defend.

“Excellent, Iggy!” crowed Gladio, pushing the dagger aside with one gloved hand. “Manage to do that a few more times and I’ll call today a success!”

Ignis smirked to himself. It hadn’t occurred to him before to use his gymnast training in battle, but now that he had, the day was looking up. Shaking a bit to loosen his muscles he stepped away from Gladio, allowing the shield room to take a ready stance.

“Give me a moment to warm up properly!” he called out, and Gladio raised an eyebrow at him.

“I thought you already did that, but alright.” Gladio stuck his sword into the soft dirt of the training ground and crossed his arms expectantly.

Ignis took a few precious moments to stretch out his long limbs, suddenly acutely aware of Gladio’s gaze on him. He knew the other man watched him when he thought Ignis wasn’t looking, a considering gaze with a soft edge he didn’t think he deserved. Ignis too was guilty of staring thoughtfully after Gladio, watching the broad plane of the man’s back as he walked off the training grounds at the end of their sessions. Neither of them spoke of it, too wrapped up in their duties to the crown. But now Ignis felt Gladio’s gaze like a weight as he mentally and physically prepared for their next bout of sparring.

“Any day now, Iggy!” said Gladio suddenly, breaking Ignis’s concentration.

“Stop trying to rush perfection,” grumbled Ignis under his breath. He heard Gladio snort with laughter anyway. With a smirk, Ignis rolled his shoulders a couple times, then, with a running start, flipped effortlessly across the length of the training ground. He landed in a roll that stopped in a crouch, daggers defensively crossed across his face and torso.

When he glanced back at Gladio, he found the shield staring, the faintest flush dusting his cheeks, eyes wide and startled. “I… uh…” started Gladio, then cleared his throat. “… didn’t know you could do that, Ignis.”

Ignis stood, brushing dirt off his dark sweatpants. “Yes, well, over a decade’s worth of gymnastics training certainly pays off after a while.” He wisely left off the good dozen awards he’d earned over the years and the declined invitation to the Lucian National Gymnastic Team, especially given Gladio’s immediate reaction.

“Why the fuck didn’t you mention that last week when I asked if you had any relevant skills?” The blush on Gladio’s cheeks was quickly fading into an angry flush.

“Because I didn’t see how a non-combat skill could be translated into swordplay. I see now I was wrong.” The admission didn’t sting as much as Ignis feared it would. He did so hate being wrong, but the flabbergasted expression on the shield’s face was worth it.

Gladio pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long sigh. “Astralsdamnit, Ignis. For someone as smart as you, I never expected you to be that dumb.”

“We all have our moments,” said Ignis, beginning to feel his ears heat with embarrassment. In hindsight, yes, he should have realized gymnastics could come in handy. After all, many of the Kingsglaive had gymnast backgrounds as well. But, as often happened when faced with Gladio’s rather impressive musculature, common sense had fled and left nothing but survival calculations in its wake.

“Glad your moment is over, now let’s see if you can replicate that when you’re being attacked.” Gladio took a ready stance once more and Ignis copied him, deliberately slowing his breathing to calm his racing heart. All he had to do was let instinct take over. He’d been flipping and tumbling since he’d been able to walk, now he was just adding knives to the mix. Besides, he’d done it once already, so it was certainly possible.

With a roar, Gladio charged him, greatsword swinging in a glimmering arc towards his exposed face and Ignis no longer had time to think about anything but leaping out of the way. He spun and flipped and danced out of the path of Gladio’s strikes, darting forward with his own, but each attempt was beaten back. He was certainly closer than he had been before, but simply avoiding the gleaming blade still wasn’t enough.

After a time, he landed panting behind Gladio, having flipped over the other’s head to avoid a particularly painful looking blow. He spared a moment’s thought to how stupid his next move probably was, then shrugged it off. Potions existed for a reason, and it wasn’t like he didn’t already have a rather extensive coat of bruises already. Plus, if he did this right, Gladio would end up with the majority of whatever injury resulted.

Before Gladio could fully ready himself for the next charge, Ignis was already moving, flipping forward across the training ground before colliding heavily with the other man. He gripped Gladio’s shoulders hard as the force of the collision unbalanced the normally rock-steady shield, sending both men sprawling in the dirt, Ignis sitting triumphantly on Gladio’s chest as his greatsword skittered out of his reach before disappearing in crystalline sparks.

Ignis leaned forward slightly, dull practice dagger materializing across Gladio’s throat. “I win.”

“Yeah, you do.” Gladio’s voice came out slightly strangled, eyes wide and dark under Ignis’s gaze. The dusting of pink from before had returned to his cheeks and his breathing came fast and ragged. Ignis was suddenly painfully aware of just how close they were, how he had leaned forward with the movement of his dagger, only inches between their faces.

Gladio’s eyes flicked down across Ignis’s face and he squirmed a bit, trying to dislodge the man from his perch. Ignis sucked in a startled breath, eyes widening as he bit his lip to stop the noise. Gladio fought to tear his eyes away from the sight, blush deepening.

“Ignis, if you don’t get up, we might have a problem on our hands.” He inwardly cursed at how his voice left him, shaky and breathless.

Gladio felt more than saw Ignis’s dagger disappear as the man leaned even closer. “And what if I don’t want to get up?” asked the adviser, so close that his lips brushed against Gladio’s with his words.

Later, Ignis would swear that Gladio whimpered in response, but he denied ever making such a sound. Ignis grinned, a feral expression on his normally impassive face, but his ears burned bright red as he bent down and captured Gladio’s lips in a kiss. It was slow and thorough and Gladio found himself reaching up to tangle his hand in Ignis’s hair. When they drew apart, Ignis’s eyes had a glazed look and his hair was mussed in a way that made him devastatingly handsome. Gladio let his head fall back against the packed earth of the training ground with a moan that sounded wreaked even to his own ears.

“Damn, Iggy. Didn’t know you had that in you either.”

Ignis made a show of sitting back and straitening his shirt from where it had ridden up. “It seems I’m full of surprises today.”

Gladio growled an assent and reached to pull Ignis back down, but Ignis swatted his hand away and rolled off of the shield’s chest. With no small amount of pride, Gladio noticed the way Ignis tried to discreetly adjust his sweatpants before offering him a hand up.

The hand up turned into another kiss, Gladio wrapping his arms around Ignis and settling his hands on his slim waist.

“You know, the glaives are due for training at any moment and I really doubt you want them to find us in here,” panted Ignis after a moment. “The teasing alone would be intolerable.”

Gladio rested his forehead against Ignis. “You’re right. We should probably talk about this too, whatever this is, but for now I know a really good private shower, if you’re interested.”

Ignis’s eyes glittered with arousal and amusement. “Very much so, lead the way.”

Their breathless laughter as they raced for the showers still hung in the air as the first of the Kingsglaive arrived for afternoon training.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Come scream at me about my favorite chocobros. I can be found on tumblr at jedi-goldberry-with-the-force.


End file.
